The geographical environment is the part of nature with which human society directly interacts. People need it to solve production problems and for life. The diversity that exists in nature naturally divided the work of man. He became engaged in hunting and fishing, cattle breeding, mining, etc. The features that the natural environment has give specific directions for people's activities. An example would be certain industries, which vary by country and region.
Development history
The geographic environment emerged as a consequence of the evolution of the Earth's biosphere. Further development took place. The entire specified period is divided by scientists into three stages. The first of them lasted about three billion years. It was the time of the existence of the simplest organisms. The atmosphere at the first stage of the development of the geographic environment contained a small amount of free oxygen. But at the same time, it had a lot of carbon dioxide.
The second stage lasted about five hundred and seventy million years. It was characterized by the leading role of living organisms inthe process of development and formation of the geographical shell. During this period, rocks of organic origin accumulated, and the composition of the atmosphere and water also changed. All this happened due to photosynthesis of green plants. The end of this stage was the period of the appearance of man on Earth.
Forty thousand years ago, the last, modern period in the development of the geographical envelope began. At this time, the relationship between man and nature changed significantly. People began to actively influence various parts of the geographical environment, since without it they could not live and develop further.
Thus, humanity has brought new species of animals and plants. It has mastered unexplored territories and ousted wild flora and fauna from there.
Main Components
What complexes form the geographic environment? It consists primarily of territory. This is a place where there are socio-political or ethnic formations. The territory consists of the following components:
- Geographic location. It reflects the remoteness of the area from the equator and the poles, its location on a certain island, mainland, etc. A number of features of a particular state largely depend on the geographical location (soil, climate, fauna, flora, etc.).
- Surface relief. It is characterized by the degree of ruggedness of the territory, the presence of mountain ranges and uplands, the presence of lowlands and plains, etc.
- Character of soils. They can be podzolic and swampy, sandy and black earth, etc.
- Earth's bowels. This concept includesfeatures of the geological structure of the territory, as well as the presence of fossil resources in it.
The second component of the geographic environment is climatic conditions. Includes:
- the quality and quantity of solar energy received in a given area;
- seasonal and daily changes in air temperature;
- the nature and amount of precipitation;
- air humidity;
- degree of cloudiness;
- the presence of permafrost in the soil;
- strength and direction of winds, etc.
All these are elements of the natural environment that are included in the concept of climate.
The next component of the Earth's biosphere is water resources. This concept includes rivers and seas, lakes and swamps, mineral springs and groundwater. The "man-nature" system is highly developed. So, many aspects of human life are greatly influenced by the hydrographic regimes of the seas, lakes and rivers, their temperature, current, salinity, freezing, etc.
What other complexes form the geographic environment? This is the animal and plant world. It includes all living organisms that live in the waters, in the soil and on the ground. These are birds, animals, plants and microorganisms.
Based on the above, what is called the geographic environment? This is a combination of the location of the terrain, the structure of its surface, fossils, soil cover, water resources, climate, as well as flora and fauna on a certain territory of the Earth, where it lives and developsa certain part of human society.
Environment
This concept is of great importance for the life of society. Its structure is much broader than that of the geographic environment. What is included in it? There are certain types of environment - natural and artificial.
The first one is the biosphere. This is the realm of being of all living beings. The biosphere includes not only representatives of fauna and flora, but also all their habitats. Of course, the relationship between man and nature is such that people are constantly exploring and transforming more and more new territories. For the life of society, these actions are only positive. The development of the we alth given by nature leads to an undoubted growth of not only material, but also the spiritual values of mankind. People could not become intelligent if they did not learn to create something new - something that does not exist in the world.
The types of environment include the artificial habitat. It contains everything that was created by man himself. These are not only a variety of items, but also plants and animals bred by selection and with the help of domestication.
The importance of the artificial environment for the life of society is growing more and more every year. However, the dynamics of this development is worrying. The fact is that the state of the environment as a result of the life of society is constantly deteriorating. The volume of everything created by man already significantly exceeds the weight of the living organisms of the planet.
Despite what is called the geographic environment of the entire biosphere, whichsurrounds human society, on its territory there are anthropogenic components in the form of enterprises and cities, highways, etc. Such elements are often referred to as "second" nature. However, the term "environment" in international agreements has a slightly different meaning. It is understood only as the natural biosphere.
Contradictory interaction
Any progress is possible only as a result of the struggle and the simultaneous unity of the opposing forces. There are two opposites in the world. It is nature and people. Each of these two forces lives according to its own laws. And therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that throughout the history of mankind there has been a struggle with nature.
The result of this was the improvement of tools that have gone from stone axes to lasers. Nature and man have not changed the essence of their interaction for many millennia. The scale and forms of the struggle have changed.
Unity
Man and the environment are united in the process of producing we alth. People conquer nature, but at the same time they can act only according to its laws. All geographical factors of the environment are necessary for a person. He simply cannot do without them. And there are numerous examples of this. Nature and man are one. How can this be explained? The fact is that people are not social creatures at all. They are biosocial. With our body we belong to nature, and in this regard, every blow to it affects our he alth.
Let's give more examples. nature and maninteract and fight among themselves through production and technology. However, any technological process is a method of appropriation of objects of nature by society. Therefore, harmonious relations with these two opposites must also be established here.
Thus, the concept of "natural environment" and the fate of mankind are closely linked. That is why the development of society should not interfere in the process of evolution of everything that makes up the geographical environment. It should be remembered that nature is a kind of inorganic human body. That is why the creation of production that can destroy the environment is so destructive.
The need for technological processes
Human society cannot refuse to create we alth. This process is the exchange of substances (energy and information) between people and nature. How does this happen? In nature, there are huge cycles of various substances in their scale. Man complicates these cycles and makes them different in their quality. In addition, people create substances that do not exist in nature. So, according to statistics, every year scientists synthesize almost two hundred thousand previously non-existent chemical compounds. However, such materials are either not included in the natural cycle of substances at all, or enter it, but with great difficulty.
Conservation of the biosphere
The state of the environment, which has recently been causing concern to environmentalists, can be improved by creating waste-free production. What will it give? In this case, the production cycles will become repeatedlymaterials taken from nature are used. Scrap metal and waste paper, old rubber, glass and plastic products can be used as raw materials. This business is not only economically beneficial. It is of great ecological interest to our planet.
For waste-free production, various enterprises must be combined in such a way that the waste of one of them becomes the raw material for another. Otherwise, we will breathe polluted air and suffer from a shortage of clean water. All this is already leading to the development of numerous diseases in people.
Geopolitical Issues
Many scientists have already recognized the fact that the location of the state, that is, one of the components of the geographical environment, is of no small importance for the development prospects of a given country. It influences the general policy (geopolitics) of society. What explains this? Based on historical experience, we can conclude that the territory of any state is its strategic resource. In terms of its importance, it is in first place.
With the geographical environment, that is, with its components such as water and air, land, etc., all the vital activity of human society is connected. Inseparable from these elements and his spiritual ideals. Even in ancient times, many peoples elevated the numerous factors of the geographical environment to the rank of deities. And until now, religion continues to play one of the main roles in modern politics. This is especially pronounced in the countries of the Thirdpeace.
The reason for the poor development of many states of modern society is the adherence to religious and national traditions, which in ancient times were dictated by the geographical environment of their habitat. This may explain the decline that we observe in the Egyptian and Indian civilizations. The consequence of this process is the backlog of these regions in political, cultural and economic terms.
International relations, in addition to territorial affiliation, are also determined by the presence (lack) of natural resources. Thus, Africa is of strategic importance for the entire world economy, as well as for the geopolitical interests of the United States. The main natural resource of this territory is oil. This component of the geographic environment determines both the domestic and foreign policy of the United States.
Advanced countries have achieved a high level of technical and technological progress. Modern equipment allows the most efficient use of existing natural resources. This fact reduces society's dependence on the geographic environment.
In the Third World, population growth exceeds the development of technological progress. That is why the geographical environment has a significant influence on the life of society in such states. It is not surprising that natural disasters in such countries claim a large number of lives. This is due to the inability to make a timely forecast of natural disasters, which would allow to take action and reduce the number of victims.
Hunger problem
For todayday in the world accumulated significant food supplies. However, despite this, about fifty million people die of hunger every year. The vast majority of undernourished people live in Africa, Asia and Latin America. These are Third World countries whose economy is characterized by manual labor and primitive technologies. The reason for such a low level is the philosophy of the peoples living in these states. They still rely on the geographic environment and its limitless resources.
The role of nature for human society today
From all of the above, we can conclude that man and the environment no longer have such close ties as in former times. The role of the biosphere in the development of society at the present stage has decreased. This was made possible thanks to the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution.
But at the same time, there is a dependence of politics, economics, as well as the geopolitics of countries on the availability of mineral resources. The lack of these components necessary for human production forces us to look for them in other places, sometimes even by aggressive methods. In addition, the quality of air, water and land fertility are important for populated areas. These facts indicate that the role of the geographical environment in the development of society still remains one of the most important. And not recognizing this fact can cause a real environmental disaster.
Geographic environment and human he alth
On conditionour body is significantly influenced by water and food. These components have different quality depending on their location. This is due to the presence or absence of certain chemical elements in them. Food and water of poor quality cause certain pathologies that are observed in the respective regions. So, people living in the B altic States, Finland, Germany, as well as in the northwestern regions of Russia, receive less of such a chemical element as selenium. This causes deterioration of the heart muscle and the occurrence of myocardial infarction.
Everyone knows the healing effect that the nature of the Crimea has on the human body. And this is explained not only by the favorable climate, the noise of the sea surf and the ionization of the air. The fact is that there is a lot of lithium in the soils of the Crimean peninsula. This element has a beneficial effect on the human nervous system, relieving mental stress.
People living in areas where soils have an excess of cadmium often suffer from kidney pathologies. They have a reduced amount of protein in the body, more often malignant neoplasms occur.
If there is an increased content of cadmium and lead in the human body, then this fact indicates brain poisoning. Scientists have found that in those regions where soils are poor in cob alt, negative processes occur in the body of all domestic animals. Cows that do not receive this element lose weight. Their hair falls out and their milk is defatted.
When iodine deficiency occurs in a geographic environment, one of the most common human diseases is endemic goiter. This pathology, in turn, causes violations of hormonal functions and the functioning of the thyroid gland. The most common goiter is in North America and Central Asia, Belarusian Polissya and Holland. Such well-known dental diseases as caries and fluorosis cause bone tissue destruction. The first of them appears with a lack of fluorine in food and water, and the second - with an excess of this element.
With an increased content of nickel in the soil (Southern Urals, Kazakhstan, etc.), a person develops irritation of the epithelium and damage to the eye cornea. The lack of molybdenum (Florida, New Zealand, Australia) causes a violation of nitrogen metabolism.
Pollution of the geographical environment of his residence has a negative impact on human he alth. Poisonous to our body is carbon monoxide, which is formed during the incomplete combustion of oil and coal. Its main "suppliers" are oil refineries and metallurgical plants, as well as transport. A person also suffers from heavy metals accumulated along the roads. These include lead, which disrupts hemoglobin synthesis, brain and kidney function. Nickel and cadmium contribute to cancer.
